This is for you AT&T Reps, however, a lot of it applies to all of us. LMFAO
#10...But my bill says AT&T now......
Ok genius...you signed up with Cingular, you have been billed by Cingular for years, and your phone says Cingular on the outside. The only thing that has changed in your world is the logo on your bill. Let me put it into perspective...If you buy a box of Frosted Flakes, and your wife puts a picture of the Lucky Charms guy on the box, does the contents inside magically change into pink hearts and yellow moon marshmallows? Convert over or deal with the reality that you signed up with the wrong team.
#9...Best Buy sells the RAZR cheaper....
It’s called a promotion. Their reps are hourly employees which mean no commission is paid out. Best Buy keeps that commission for themselves. It does not phase them to cut into their own commission to get gross adds which allows them to hit a bonus payout. Plus they can mark up a refrigerator $200 to make up to $100 discount on the phone. Cell phone stores only sell phones, so NO, they won't match the price.
#8...Customer service said I get a free phone....
If customer service told you that you weighed 80 pounds less, would you run out and buy a two piece and flip flops? Congratulations. They told you what you needed to hear to get off the phone and walk into a store like everybody else. The prices are set locally in each market. Customer service can't possibly know the prices unless they visit each store. Besides, they leave notes on accounts if there is a free phone offer. 9 times out of ten....no notes on your account. If you bought the phone from Motorola or Samsung directly, you would pay 2-300 dollars. We only charge you 50-80. Where does that other 150 go? We eat it up front. But that is not good enough. You want more. You want free. If you buy cereal, does the store give you free milk? If you buy a car is the oil and gas free? If you get cable service is the T.V. free? No. But in cell phone land, we give everything away for free. Well guess what, we buy the phones from somebody else. They charge us. We charge you. The phones today do more that that black and white cap *** Junker you surfed in on. $80.00 for a phone (after a rebate) over 2 years = $3.33 a month. Less than a pack of smokes cheap o.
#7 but the phones are cheaper online...
Does online have the same overhead that a retail store has? Are you talking to a live person who has real time feedback on your equipment decision? Is the return process as convenient as in store? No. If you are looking for a crappy low end free phone that will break in 6 months, shop online. If you want to invest some real money on a quality product with live demonstrations and support, go to a store.
#6 they gave me a free car charger last time...
If they were free, why would we spend hours putting price tags on the back?
You need the charger...you want the charger...it’s a convenient product...just pony up and buy one. I have had mine for over 2 years now. $26.99 divided by 24 months is $1.12 a month. What else do you spend more than $1.12 a month on? McDonalds? Beer? Toilet paper? Corn Nuts?
#5 Activation fee? Can't you waive that?
I'm sorry....I actually can. I just wanted to charge you extra because I want to piss you off and encourage you to not spend any more money today. I'm not really under a quota that my job depends on, and my commissions were not cut in half this month. Let me go ahead and press that Activation Fee waived button right here on my desk.
Look. If you could process the transaction yourself...there would be no fee. But since you can't even figure out how to store numbers in your phone book while using CAPITAL LETTERS, I doubt that will happen anytime soon.
#4 Why's my bill so high?
hmmmmmm.............
Let me look, oh I see it, right here. You were too cheap to pick the plan I suggested, and add the appropriate features you needed. Now you went over your minutes, got overcharged for pay per use, and have a $400 bill. Now you need my help? I get paid $4.00 for helping you cheap out on me for an hour, and I explained the whole instruction manual to you in store. Now you want me to give you a credit. Guess what...I CAN'T. We don't give credits in store. It’s a big long process of e-mails and calls to people who have to escalate to their bosses. 5-6 days turn around time, and you are only getting 50% back, which is going to piss you off and cause you to cancel, I lose my $4.00, you get $150.00 penalty. You will make a scene, threaten to go to Verizon, and tell everybody how bad Cingular sucks. All because you were to cheap to pick a $79.99 plan to cover all your usage.
#3 Can't I just resign my contract and get a new phone?
A. You didn't finish the first contract you agreed to finish to get the discount on your current phone.
B. It's not even in your name.
C. You are the one who declined the insurance in the first place
D. If you could just resign, wouldn't everybody just drop their phone in water and come in and resign?
#2 my phone is broke.
....So...if you car breaks do you take it to the salesman in the showroom and ask him to fix it? Does my business card say cell phone technician? Does the sign out front say SERVICE REPAIR CENTER. NO!! The people in the store are there to sell things. We did not build the phone. We did not break the phone. We do not give out replacements. 300 customers a month average (new and upgrades) times 12 months = 3600 phones a year times 5 years in an area = 18000 phones sold. If everyone decided they have a problem with their phone and came into exchange it.....we would have -17000 phones in our inventory room to sell. That’s a good business plan. Instead...we have you call an 800 number to have the phone shipped from a warehouse directly to you, no postage to pay, not shipping costs. And what do you say? "I have to be without my phone?" or " I conduct $50,000 in business on my phone every day, I can't be without it " Hey buddy, $50,000 a day you can afford the $7.00 to have overnight shipping. When we did have repair centers, you bitched about the wait time. We can't win.
#1 thing not to say in a cell phone store...
But I have been a customer for xxx years...
I have driven Fords for 12 years. I have eaten Papa Johns for 10 years. I have drank Mountain Dew for 15 years. I have shopped at Giant Eagle for 8 years. I have bought gas for 12 years. I have Hanes t-shirts for 25 years. I have had cable service 7 years. Do you think that any one of these companies have ever given me anything for FREE just because I have been a customer of theirs for xxx years? No. If you actually got billed for what it costs (from start to finish) to acquire you business, and use our service, you would crap you Levis jeans (20 years).
